Hello mother...Hello father...

Well... the girls are off to camp for the week. Tate and Quinn are up at Cran-Hill Ranch. They will be there until Saturday morning. Haidyn is out at Camp Geneva day-camp. She is gone from 8am to 5pm everyday this week.

So...my house is clean, and I think it just might stay that way for more than...5minutes?!?!

What will I do with my new found "freedom"? I am in the process of stripping the wallpaper, and paint in Tate's room, and tomorrow, if I get all the prep work done, my mom is going to come and help me paint.

I'll post some photos when it's finished.

I have found that my brain finds it hard not to multi-task. Everywhere I go I get this sinking feeling that I'm missing something?

Oh well, before I know it, it will be back to life as usual...so I will enjoy this peaceful week while it lasts.

Define...Yankee

Last night one of the girls...I think it was Quinn asked what a Yankee was.
Well...you've got Yankee Doodle...

or...the New York Yankees

or... if you're Haidyn..."it's the doctor who yanks your teeth out."

Tatelynn had to have two of her teeth "yanked" yesterday, so I am pretty sure that her response was derived from the days events...but none-the-less it was met with much laughter!

Just thought I'd share the super cuteness that comes with a 6 year old!

"Are we there yet"?!

We "trolls" have just returned after spending a few days at Cedar Campus in the upper peninsula. (troll is what the yoopers call those of us from down below the bridge.) My brother works at the camp and his family is living there for the summer.

We left Sunday morning...and after just over 5 hours, and hearing "are we there yet?" one to many times...we arrived!

The camp in located just west of Cedarville on the shores of Lake Huron. It is beautiful!!

While we were there we...

• encountered a very large leech at the water front
• played in the pool
• visited tad-pole-topia(many times)
• hiked to Sandy Cove and played in the water on the big rocks(where grandma broke her toe!)
• hiked to Narnia and found the lamp-post
• went to the nature center located in a very old very cool house
• played at Mariners Cove
• kayaked in the bay
• did lots of swinging
• played carpet ball
• saw thousands of mayflies
• eat very good food at the lodge

but...most of all it was great spending time with our family because we miss them so much.

Thanks Eric, Ann, Cody, Taylor, and Jake for letting us stay with you and showing us all the cool things at camp. We had an amazing time, and can't wait to come back!!

I created a slide show of our time there...ENJOY!!

cedar campus

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thoughts for Fathers Day...

God took the strengh of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ...
Dad

Happy Fathers Day...
to all the dads we love!!
We're everything we are
because you love us!

CONGRATULATIONS MIKE & TRACY!!!!

I became an "auntie" again yesterday.
My brothers best friend, Mike and his wife Tracy,
had a beautiful, and tiny baby boy.

Hunter Michael Rose
June 14, 2007
8:30 (ish) pm
4lbs. 11oz.

(Sorry about the glare...it is hard to take a good picture from the outside of an incubator!!)

He arrived about 4 weeks early due to some "minor"complications.

While Tracy was in labor at the hospital...
Hunters daddy was flying into Grand Rapids from Baghdad, Iraq,
he arrived at 3:15pm!!
Just in time to see his baby boy enter the world!

Please pray that Hunter will be able to maintain his own body temp. and continue to eat like a horse so he can come home with his mom and dad...hopefully by Sunday!!

on location...VK girls photo shoot...

I finally made work of taking the girls yearly photos today. We went to our favorite "locale", Spring Grove Park, and this is what we came up with...

Tatelynn turned 11 on March 1st
Quinn turned 9 on February 10th
Haidyn turned 6 on April 21st.

Like I said in my first post...they grow up WAY to fast!!

Good movie...

"Eventually, all things merge into one...and a river runs through it."

"...it runs over rocks from the basement of time, on some are timeless raindrops, under the rocks are words, and some of the words are theirs."

I had the pleasure of watching one of my favorite movies last night. If you haven't seen it, you should. Then (hopefully) you, like me, will be counting the days until you can go to Montana. (I've been there...believe me...it is truly amazing!)

I'll have to admit there is another reason it is one of my favorite movies...

Come on...he's just so "easy-on-the-eyes"!! Sorry...you can't fault me for being human!

I hope you have the chance to see it. There is really so much more to it than just, Montana, breathtaking scenery, and, oh yeah...Brad Pitt!!

What a year!!

As I look back down the road that God has lead us down during the last year I stand in awe of the journey. It was certainly filled with it's share of ups...and downs.

This time last year I (Shann) was in the middle of planning for my return to school!! Yes...me, a thirty year old mother of three, who didn't care much for school when I had to be there, I was making all the required plans to attend Davenport University to become a medical assistant. By August all was in order, I received a backpack from the girls for my birthday, and on September 8th, I became a college freshmen. My personal goal was to be on the deans list...a pretty lofty goal for sure...but...on April 25th I officially finished my first year with a 3.92 cumulative GPA!! I... (the thirty year old mother of three) made the deans list.

This time last year Cam was just nicely back to work after a dislocated shoulder in December took him down a long road to recovery. While the construction industry was less than co-operative he was managing to find enough work to keep the bills paid. Then one Sunday morning in August he woke to find his shoulder had dislocated in his sleep. We were off to the emergency room...again, followed by another visit to the orthopedic surgeon. On August 31st he had surgery to repair the damage to his shoulder, and was again on the long road to recovery. This time we were meet with much difficulty from our insurance company...and if it weren't for those who love us...we would have never made it through this trial.

We applied for a carpenter job at Glacier National Park in October of 2006. We felt we were being called to apply, and we were willing to move 2000 miles if God was leading us to do so. We waited, not so patiently, to see if this would be our door, or if God would be opening a window to our future. The news came via letter in late February. The door had been closed, much to our dismay, but much to the relief of some others. Don't get me wrong, our family is so wonderful that they supported us even when we threatened to leave the state!!

I'm happy to announce though, that God has lead us to our window. Cam is just 10 days shy of 90 days at Kerkstra Precast. His job title...precast concrete erector! (it's OK...you can laugh, it's a little funny!) It was an amazing course of events that brought us to this place. Some great friends on the "inside" and a whole lot of divine intervention!!

The girls have grown in leaps and bounds. Tatelynn will enter middle school this fall. Quinn is an amazing 9 year old, who loves to read and write, and is one of the most helpful kids you'll ever meet. And Haidyn, who had a rocky start to her first "official" year of school, but ended up as the "M.I.S." (Most Improved Student) in her class. It was amazing watching her learn through the year.

So...here's what I've learned this year...

• thirty year old mothers of three make dang good college freshmen.
• kids grow up way to fast.
• God will provide for us every day the things we need on that day.
• worrying about tomorrow is a huge waste of my time.
• what I do every day to help my family really makes a difference.

and last...but on least...

• our friends and family love us more than I could have ever known. Even when we threatened to move 2000 miles away they prayed that the Lord would open the appropriate door, or window to the future He had planned for us.

I know that when I turn around to look briefly at the year we just came through I will see one set of footprints on the road, because the Lord carried me and my whole family the whole time.

So...a big thank you to everyone who loves us, and to everyone who said even one prayer on our behalf during the last year. Today we share our celebration with you. We celebrate the ups, and the downs we've encountered on our narrow road. We are thankful that we have a God who will lead us to a window...open it wide...and present us with all sorts of possibilities!!